The good folks at Goose Valley noticed that my blog had an unpardonable dearth of wild rice recipes. In fact, I only have one: Turkey & Wild Rice Casserole. So they sent me a few packages of their wild rice to try. I'm always looking for wild rice in my local supermarket but I always find the same old wild rice pilaf in a box (with a seasoning packet I always throw away). I'm very glad to be able to try Goose Valley's wild rice in it's all-natural state.
Goose Valley Wild Rice comes from their Goose Valley ranch out in California. Here is some information from their website:
Only Goose Valley Wild Rice™ comes from just one location - Goose Valley. Other wild rice brands are blended from the output of many growers and locations. We hand select the plumpest Grade A wild rice for our Family Reserve.
We are not just concerned about quality at the ranch. We share ownership of the most modern wild rice mill in the industry, certified for organic production. Our packaging is filled by another family-owned company, also organic certified. No other wild rice brand is grown by a family in one location, milled by them, and packaged in an organic certified facility.
Family-owned Goose Valley Ranch™, is nestled high in the Cascade Mountains, south of Mt. Shasta, in the evening shadows of Hatchet Mountain. Goose Valley is still a wild place – we share Goose Valley with geese and duck, eagles and hawks, elk and deer, coyote, mountain lion, and bear. Since the 1980s the wildlife has grown along with our wild rice production. We started with a few acres, but demand caused us to expand production until we became the leading grower of certified organic and natural wild rice in America. Goose Valley’s red volcanic soil helps give Goose Valley Wild Rice its nutty flavor. Most agree that the pure water from spring snow melt is also critical. The summer’s hot days and chilly nights, and the winter’s freezing snow are ideal for growing wild rice.
Definitely check out Goose Valley wild rice if you can. I was impressed with my samples. I'll be doing two wild rice recipes using Goose Valley wild rice. This is the first one. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
5 oz package of Goose Valley Wild Rice - Natural
2 ears of corn
4 tablespoons of chopped scallions
2 plum tomatoes chopped
1/2 lemon juiced
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Cook the Goose Valley Wild Rice according to the package instructions. Drain and set aside in the fridge to cool.
While the rice is cooking, grill two ears of corn (with a light coating of olive oil) and set aside to cool.
Chop the plum tomatoes and scallions. Add to a bowl with the cooked and cooled wild rice. Cut the kernels off the cobs and add corn to bowl. Add lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and toss. Enjoy!
Serve with Frango com Piri-Piri (find the recipe here)
Full disclosure: Thank you to Goose Valley for sending me some of their wild rice to try out!
Goose Valley is a company you can get behind. They believe in selling all natural and organic products, in sustainability and in charity. However, they have mixed feelings about geese! You can buy Goose Valley wild rice in several different forms on their website as well as on other online sites. They have a nice collection of recipes if you want some ideas of what to do with wild rice.
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